Seriously… consistency and dependability and keeping promises is a BIG DEAL for me (because I was pretty flaky in my younger years and I'll spend the rest of my life proving I can do better even though that flakiness was anxiety and fear and people-pleasing based and I should forgive myself and move on BUT ANYWAY) I guess I accidentally skipped March's newsletter and I am sorry!
✥ Were you a teenager in the 90s? Did you spend a lot of time in the mall? When I was 12-13, I was obsessed with a store called
Au Coton that sold slouchy, baggy clothing and honesty kind of set the standard for how I wanted to dress for the rest of my life. No matter what kind of sartorial phase I was going through, I always fashioned it through that soft, casual, lived-in Au Coton filter--and I think I still do. For whatever reason I was thinking about them the other night and lamenting the fact that now when I have discretionary income, they no longer exist…but they do! They have a store in Montreal! It's not at all the same as it was, of course those colors are no longer en vogue and even the silhouettes have changed. But I may treat myself to
a tee shirt for old time's sake…
✥
Speaking of phases, I have been pining for a certain kind of dress I wore in the late 90s-early 2000s, and
this one from Disturbia just called to me. It's super, super cute!
✥
Whenever I embark on a new creative endeavor I always promise myself when I reach various deadlines, I'll reward myself with this, that, or the other thing. When I saw a friend on Instagram share that they got a pendant from
TrollCunningForge, I knew I had to commission something for myself. Can anyone guess what artwork I chose? I''ll give you a hint: it's the same artist as the one in the post I linked to! (And it graces the Japanese edition of The Art of the Occult!)
✥ This is a
very nice cocktail set that we bought ourselves for our three year wedding anniversary last month!
Rogue Perfumerie's Tuberose & Moss is a recommendation I received from writer and journalist Rachel Syme over on Twitter back when Twitter wasn't a horrible place to be. I asked for a scent that smelled like Tasha Tudor's goth great-grandaughter, and she recommended to me Tuberose & Moss. This is a stunning scent and if I'm honest, I'm annoyed at myself that she knew of it before I did. It's plush white florals and earthy leathery dreamy oakmoss and woody, close to the skin musk; it's classic perfumery with a wink. While there's definitely that sense of powdery, vintage glamour, it's lensed through a cracked-looking glass, there's something shimmering and strange about it too. It's the faded photo of Siouxsie Sioux reading Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit that never existed in this world, but I'm certain it does in some other reality.
✥ This was not a great reading month for me, everything felt like a slog, but I did enjoy
Leila Taylor's newest title, Sick Houses: Haunted Homes and the Architecture of Dread, which was a delightful rabbit hole for anyone fascinated by creepy architecture and the psychology behind our fear of certain spaces. Taylor takes us through everything from real-life haunts like the Winchester Mystery House to the gothic Victorian mansions of cinema, exploring why these places make our skin crawl. I particularly loved her examination of the "witch house" and how aging women living alone somehow became symbols of dread in our collective imagination. The book has that perfect encyclopedic quality – like chatting with a fellow horror enthusiast who's connecting dots you never considered before. While sometimes feeling like a collection of thoughtful essays rather than a cohesive whole, Taylor's scholarly approach paired with her genuine enthusiasm for horror references both familiar and obscure makes this a fascinating journey for anyone interested in the psychological underpinnings of haunted houses.
✥ I also want to mention that I'm currently reading
Jennifer Higgie's The Other Side: A Journey into Women, Art and the Spirit World and even though I'm just halfway through, I already want to recommend it. Higgie explores fascinating figures like Hildegard of Bingen and Hilma af Klint alongside lesser-known spiritualist artists I'd never encountered before. The book is absolutely brimming with information and insight - I found myself constantly pausing to look up artworks, exhibitions, and quotes mentioned throughout. And can I just say? I absolutely love the memoir elements that some reviewers seem to hate. When a book's subject fascinates me this much, I naturally want to know about the person behind the words! Higgie's personal reflections give the historical accounts a warmth and resonance that purely academic writing would miss. What's been particularly wonderful and strange is experiencing so many
"literary synchronicities" while reading - those magical moments when the book seems to be in conversation with other texts I've been exploring or thoughts I've been having. As for the complaints about not enough images - this was never marketed as an art book in the first place, so I don't understand that criticism at all. (And as someone who has written three art books --so far!-- I always bristle when I encounter that kind of complaint. UGH)
